Abstract
It has been previously reported that males and females view/use maps in a similar manner, but differ on how they give directions: males tend to use cardinal directions (north, south, etc.), while women use left and right directional terms. Our experiment tested participants using both maps designed to emulate previous studies' stimuli along with maps downloaded from a map/direction website. Orientations of the downloaded map's road-grid and/or map compass were either north at top of screen (normal) or northeast at top of screen (orthogonal). Unlike previous research there were no gender differences in the use of cardinal or left-right directional terms. Longer compass fixation times were found with orthogonal compass maps, and males tended to view the distance markers for longer periods. Implications for map design and use are discussed.
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